We are specialized in employed Expatriates and foreign Executives in Germany

German Health Insurance for Employees

Health Insurance is mandatory in Germany since 2009.

Employees do not have to take care of Health Insurance coverage on their own. The employer is involved in the process, too. He contritbutes to the employees´ Health Insurance nearly half of the montly premium. But employees have to decide which Health Insurance plan and company they want to be insured with.

Relevance of Salary

Do you earn more than 4.950 € gross per month? Then you may choose between

Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) or

Private Health Insurance (PHI).

Do you need help?

There are a lot of pro´s and con´s to look at, before you decide in which scheme you fit best.

Please note:

Many international Health Insurance solutions don´t meet the German required specification to be accredited for the employer´s partial payment, So please pay attention that you really take out comprehensive cover and not only cheap „travel insurance“ when you enter Germany as an employee.

Private Health Insurance (PHI)

You are not subject to budget constraints as in the statutory health insurance.

Medical progress and innovations are made available to you faster.

You enjoy best benefits and services.

There are roughly 40 Private German Health Insurance companies. The monthly premium here is based on the quality of the chosen tariff and its benefits. Also your entry age and pre-existing medical conditions have an influence on the monthly premium. You pay per person each and when you lead a healthy and cost-conscious style of life, you may even receive a premium refund.

How to apply for Private

If you wish to be privately insured from the very start in Germany please contact as early. We provide offers, guide you and support you. Then inform your company’s human resources department quickly about your wish to be privately insured. This avoids possible confusion. Otherwise, you may find yourself automatically registered in the public scheme.

Statutory Health Insurance (SHI)

You are compulsorily insured in the public health insurance as an employee if you are earning less than €4.800 gross salary per month. The benefits are comprehensive, but more basic. You may realize, that some benefits of the Statutory Health Insurance aren’t sufficient. Some benefits aren’t included. Or in some cases there is a high deductible, an own share, which can bei quite considerable.

For instance if you need glasses or contact lenses, you must pay the full cost of these yourself. Subsidies are only paid in a small number of cases, for instance for people with serverely impaired vision. Another example: In most cases, the Statutory Health Insurance fund will refuse to pay any costs for natural therapies. They must be paid by your own.

How to become a member

This is easy. Inform your employer about your decision. And when you need help in choosing the suiting „Krankenkasse“, call us.

Try our quick and flexible Service

There are a lot of pro´s and con´s to look at, before you decide in which scheme you fit best. Only few German Private Health Insurance companies accept foreigners without a huge bureaucratic paperwork – some even do not accept foreigners until they have been resident here for at least two years. Reason enough to trust the experts from KremerLundehn, your Independent Insurance Broker in Cologne. We know our way around the labyrinth of the German Health Insurance industry long before signing on the dotted line.

You will not enter Germany as an employee?

Freelancer

Compared with employees in Germany who particularly benefit from the state´s protection and care, freelancer need to insure themselves self-dependently. As medical insurance is obligatory in Germany, to find the fitting health insurance coverage, is prior to all other insurance topics. The best thing is, that you already seek for a solution before you enter the Country. Because freelancers under certain circumstances have the choice to take out either public health insurance or private health insurance and not every international health insurance company fulfills the requirements of German law.

Students

In Germany, health insurance is compulsory, i.e. as a student too you need to provide proof of health insurance cover which is valid in Germany. You should therefore either take out German health insurance cover or have your current health insurance recognized immediately after arriving in Germany.

In principle, you are free to choose between a statutory health insurance scheme (“gesetzliche Krankenkasse”) and a private health insurer. We generelly recommend: Try to jump into the „Gesetzliche Krankenkasse“. This is only possible once at the very start of your study. Contact us, if you like, we help you. However, there are a few cases where statutory health insurance is not possible.

In those cases we cooperate with the brokerage Dr. Walters. All non-German citizens up to 69 years who are temporarily staying in Germany can purchase Dr. Walter´s EDUCARE24 insurance cover. The policy can be purchased within the first month after entering the country or starting classes, studies, internship, teaching or research.

Please note: If you take out private health insurance cover, it will not be possible to switch to a statutory insurance scheme at any time during your studies!

Who we are?

We are a German insurance broker with excellent expertise but still with the personal touch. We give advice in English and support expatriates who live in Germany or plan to live in Germany. Without being bound to any single bank or insurance company we can represent your interests independently. You can rest assured that you will find the best possible solution which fits your needs exactly from the vast range of offers on the market. It is this simple: we will find the proposal and put together a package which suits your needs most. Click here for our little film-portrait on youtube.

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